Changing Well-Being in Central Asia: Evidence from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Abstract
This research explains the puzzle why subjective well-being (SBW) declined in Kazakhstan and increased in Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2018. It examined the predictors of the change in SWB in two Central Asian states over this period. We found that freedom of choice and financial satisfaction are powerful factors that predict the change in SWB in the two states. In addition, we observed that SWB has changed differently for various social groups. In Kazakhstan SWB has increased for financially satisfied people and it has diminished for the financially dissatisfied people. In Kyrgyzstan, for both groups we observe the increase in life satisfaction. These results show that even within one state the change in SWB might vary from one group to another. As such, scholars should disaggregate various factors to understand a more nuanced dynamics of life satisfaction over time. In addition, the differences in economic and political contexts are important.

Speaker bio
Alma Kudebayeva - Associate  Professor at the Department of Economics, KIMEP University, specializing on issues of poverty, inequality, well-being and labor economics.  Provided expertise on inequality and poverty assessment with the United Nations and the World Bank in a consultative capacity. Contributed to the IZA/DFID Growth and Labour Markets in Low Income Countries Programme and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s project on gender and employment in Central Asia. She was a Fulbright scholar at Indiana University and Research Fellow at DIW (Berlin).  Holds doctorates in mathematics from al-Farabi Kazakh National University and in development economics from the University of Manchester.